Subject
Unit
Title
English 10 – American Literature
American Identity: Short Stories
(Reading Literature)
Middletown Public Schools
Unit Planning Organizer
Grade
10
Duration 30-45 days (Term 1)
Common Core Standards
Essential How does the author develop the concept of American Identity
Questions throughout the story?
How does a character’s experience (including immigration,
multiculturalism, sense of place, and conflict between individual
values and the values of the nation) determine his/her sense of
American Identity?
Content Standards
How is the definition of “American” affected by immigration,
multiculturalism (race, gender, class, and religion, media)?
How is this definition affected by where you live (religion, urban,
suburban, rural)? How does this powerful sense of place affect
our literature?
What effects does the conflict between expressing our
individuality and ourselves as part of a nation have on our
literature? (Individuality and independence v. a collective,
national identity).
Big Idea
Writers develop the theme of American Identity through complex
characters interacting with other characters and grappling with
concepts such as multiculturalism, sense of place, and conflict
between individual values and the values of the nation.
Common Core Standards
Conceptual Students will know and understand that American Identity is
Objectives multifaceted.
Students will know and understand that American Identities are
shaped by multiple factors including immigration,
multiculturalism, sense of place, and conflict between individual
values and the values of the nation.
English 10
American Identity is shaped by immigration, multiculturalism,
sense of place, and conflict between individual values and the
values of the nation.
Content Standards
Students will know and understand American identity as
developed through short stories, such as “A Haircut”
March/April 2013
Skill
Objectives
Students will be able to:
 Analyze the author’s purpose and explain how it affects
the interpretation of a reading selection.
 Support ideas with details and examples.
 Analyze and evaluate various methods of rhetoric that an
author uses.
Students will be able to:
 Analyze the basic beliefs, perspectives and assumptions
underlying the author’s work.
 Explain and illustrate how common themes are found across
texts from different cultures.
 Define and apply vocabulary associated with rhetoric
Overarching Standards
RL.10.10. By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 9-10 text complexity
band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
W 10.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a
day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Priority and Supporting Common Core State Standards
Bold Standards are Priority
RL.10.2. Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, inclu ding how it emerges, and
its shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of text.
RL.10.3. Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact
with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
W 10.2b Develop the topic with well-chosen, relevant, and sufficient facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information
and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic.
W 10.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and
audience.
SL 10.1c Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that relate the current discussion to broader themes or larger ideas; actively
incorporate others into the discussion; and clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions.
English 10
March/April 2013
Standard
Skills
What Students Need to Be Able to Do
Concepts
What Students Need to Know
RL.10.3. Analyze how
complex characters (e.g.,
those with multiple or
conflicting motivations)
develop over the course of
a text, interact with other
characters, and advance
the plot or develop the
theme.
 Identify
 Analyze
 Connect & Evaluate

RL.10.2. Determine a theme
or central idea of a text and
analyze in detail its
development over the course
of the text, including how it
emerges, and its shaped and
refined by specific details;
provide an objective
summary of text.
 Interpret
 Analyze


English 10
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Various factors that shape American Identity
How characters demonstrate aspects of American
Identity
How complex characters develop throughout the
course of text, interact with others, and advance
plot or theme
Characters’ experiences to self and to Americans in
general
Theme or central idea of a text
How theme or central idea of American Identity
develops over the course of a text, how it emerges,
and how it is shaped and refined by specific details
March/April 2013
Remediate Learning
RL 8.3 Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or
incidents in a story or drama propel the action,
reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.
Learning Progressions
Standard
RL.10.3. Analyze how complex characters
(e.g., those with multiple or conflicting
motivations) develop over the course of a
text, interact with other characters, and
advance the plot or develop the theme.
RL 8.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text
and analyze its development over the course of the
text, including its relationship to the characters,
setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of
the text.
RL.10.2. Determine a theme or central idea
of a text and analyze in detail its
development over the course of the text,
including how it emerges, and its shaped and
refined by specific details; provide an
objective summary of text.
W 8.2b Develop the topic with relevant, wellchosen facts, definitions, concrete details,
quotations, or other information and examples.
W 10.2b Develop the topic with well-chosen,
relevant, and sufficient facts, extended
definitions, concrete details, quotations, or
other information and examples appropriate
to the audience’s knowledge of the topic.
W 8.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which
the development, organization, and style are
appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
W 10.4 Produce clear and coherent
writing in which the development,
organization, and style are appropriate to
task, purpose, and audience.
SL 8.1c Pose questions that connect the ideas of
several speakers and respond to others’ questions
and comments with relevant evidence,
observations, and ideas.
SL 10.1c Propel conversations by posing and
responding to questions that relate the
current discussion to broader themes or
larger ideas; actively incorporate others into
the discussion; and clarify, verify, or
challenge ideas and conclusions.
English 10
Accelerated Learning
RL 11.3 Analyze the impact of the author’s
choices regarding how to develop and
relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where
a story is set, how the action is ordered, how
the characters are introduced and developed).
RL 11.2 Determine two or more themes or
central ideas of a text and analyze their
development over the course of the text,
including how they interact and build
on one another to produce a complex account;
provide an objective summary of
the text
W 11.2b Develop the topic thoroughly by
selecting the most significant and relevant
facts, extended definitions, concrete details,
quotations, or other information and examples
appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the
topic.
W 11.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in
which the development, organization, and style
are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
SL 11.1c Propel conversations by posing and
responding to questions that probe reasoning
and evidence; ensure a hearing for a full range
of positions on a topic or issue; clarify, verify,
or challenge ideas and conclusions; and
promote divergent and creative perspectives.
March/April 2013
Suggested Materials
Texts
Media
Teachers select from fiction texts using the theme of American Identity such as:
 PowerPoint on elements of a short story
 “A Haircut” –I.S. Nakata
 PBS Series on American Identity
 “Dead End” –Rudolfo Anaya
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“Deer Woman” –Paula G. Allen
“Foul Shots” –Rogelio R. Gomez
“Monkey Man” –Walter Dean Myers
“One Friday Morning” –Langston Hughes
“The Baddest Dog in Harlem” –Walter Dean Myers
“The Child” –Julius Lester
“The Finish of Patsy Barnes” –Paul Laurence Dunbar
“The No Guitar Blues” –Gary Soto
“The Parsley Garden” –William Saroyan
“The Revolt of the Evil Fairies” –Ted Poston
“The Three Wise Guys” –Sandra Cisneros
“The World on Turtle’s Back” –Iroquois Myth
Selections from Multicultural Reader
Unit Assessments
Performance Task
Students will write brief analytical essay in response to the following prompt: Select one character from
one of the short stories in this unit. Analyze how the character reflects key elements of the American
Identity.
Common Formative Assessment
Graphic organizer – Advanced graphic organizer with specific character traits that relate to American Identity
Informal Progress Monitoring
Discussion and guided note-taking using SCCRIPTS
English 10
March/April 2013